There's Something About An Older Man
by PennyCan
Summary: Korra struggles with her feelings for Tenzin, knowing that he is too old for her, not to mention that he's her teacher. There's just something about him that she can't help wanting.
1. Chapter 1

"Korra, you are still thinking like a fighter! You cannot beat your spiritual side into submission."

Korra groaned inwardly at Tenzin's admonishment. It was two hours into her morning meditation, and she'd had zero luck so far. She knew that she couldn't force her past lives to contact her or imbibe her with supreme knowledge or whatever they were supposed to do. But she really hated the way that she felt meditating, just waiting for the possibility of spiritual awakening. She could barely hear Tenzin s feather-light footsteps as he walked to where she sat, eyes closed, in full lotus position on the ground.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and she could feel his close proximity when he brought his face close to her ear, saying, "You must relax your body and strengthen your mind, Korra."

_Mmmm...Tell me more about my body,_ Korra thought. Just hearing Tenzin talk about her body made her grow warm, and she worried he would be able to feel it through his contact with her bare shoulder. Luckily for her, he straightened up, removing his hand. "Try again, and this time, focus on being totally released from your body."

Korra tried her hardest to do as he asked, but found that she could not concentrate at all. Her mind kept returning to the feel of Tenzin s palm on her shoulder, the way that it seemed to burn the surface of her skin, as well as the tickle of his breath on her jaw as he d spoken into her ear. The memory only served to make her tenser than ever.

Tenzin could, of course, sense this. He sounded disappointed when he dismissed her from their meditation practice.


	2. Chapter 2

After lunch, Tenzin had summoned her outside for more practice. Korra was worried that it would be another fruitless meditation session, but when she emerged onto the training ground of Air Temple Island she found Tenzin waiting for her on the sparring mat. She stopped in her tracks. They'd sparred before, but never before had Korra seen Tenzin look so prepared for battle. He had shed his ever-present robes of yellow and orange-Korra saw them carefully laid out on a bush to the side of the mat-and was warming up with his back to her.

Though he was much older than her, Korra could see better than ever that Tenzin was in amazing shape. Muscles flexed slowly underneath his skin as he stretched. Korra ached to touch them.

It seemed she would get her chance.

Tenzin turned around, announcing, "It is clear to me that you will not be able to calm your body and mind to the point of being able to reach a true meditative state until you find a way to get out your frustrations. Maybe if I can exhaust your body with physical training, your mind won't have to contend as much for your mental training."

"Ha! I think that exhaust is a bit of an exaggeration. I may not be an airbending master, but I can hold my own with the three elements that I _can_ bend."

"Oh, no, little one. We will not be bending today," Tenzin responded, chuckling.

"We...won't?"

"No. This bout will be about my body and yours, matched in physical combat."

_My body and yours..._Korra took a moment to savor the phrase before running to meet Tenzin in the center of the mat. "You want combat, combat's what you're gonna get. Let's go, old man!"

They took on fighting stances facing one another, and Korra thought to launch a kick at Tenzin's shoulder, but before she could let fly, he delivered a series of blows to her abdomen so fast she couldn't move to avoid them. The punches caused her to stagger backward, leaving an opening for Tenzin to land a kick of his own. The kick to her chest knocked her back a few feet, but she used her momentum to do a back flip landing her back on her feet. She ran toward Tenzin and launched herself at him, aiming a kick at his neck. It landed solidly, to her delight, causing him to fall back before doubling over, choking. She stepped back from the bent over monk, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm still far from exhausted. Maybe next time-" She was caught off-guard when Tenzin straightened up and flashed a smile before barreling into her and driving her backward again. This time, she used his greater size and weight against him by dropping to the ground causing him to fall on top of her, then rolling out from under him and popping back up to a standing position. Unfortunately for her, Tenzin kicked her legs out from under her as soon as she was on her feet.

Once she was on the ground, Tenzin pinned her underneath his weight again. She appeared to struggle, but Korra's mind was really contemplating all of the wonderful things that she and Tenzin could be doing in that position were they in a more private place. _Spirits, I know he's too old for me. That he's my teacher, my master..._She got sidetracked,_ Hmm, master._ She'd never thought about the implications of his title. Master had a nice sound to it. It was sexy..._Focus, Korra._

"I can see you losing focus. Isn't this what you wanted? To fight?" Tenzin asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yes. Fighting. Good."

"Well, let us continue."


	3. Chapter 3

Their sparring continued for so long that Korra lost track of time. When the sun had begun to set on the horizon, Tenzin released Korra from the hold he had on her, for he had just put her into a painful headlock, and backed away from her, panting.

"That was very good sparring, Korra," he said, bowing. "Did I reach my goal of exhausting you?"

Korra couldn't lie: if the weariness in her muscles was not exhaustion, she didn't know what was. "Indeed you have, master." She conceded bowing back.

Tenzin laughed. "That is good. I was worried that I'd only succeeded in tiring myself out."

Tenzin was obviously well worn. His chest heaved with heavy pants as he tried to draw in enough air to feed his overworked muscles. All of the skin that was exposed to Korra's eyes gleamed with a sheen of sweat. It was a mesmerizing sight. Korra imagined what it would be like to touch those glistening muscles, and the thought did much to make her forget her own pained body.

Tenzin snapped her out of her reverie with a dismissal. "You can go and rest now, Korra. You fought well and deserve to recuperate before dinner is served. But don't get too far gone in sleep, because after supper we will be returning to the training grounds-"

"For what?" Korra whined.

"Did you forget the purpose of this afternoon's exercise that quickly?" Tenzin questioned her. "We were sparring in order to get your overactive body out of the way of your dormant spirit."

His point made, Tenzin began to walk back toward the Air Temple compound. He had an obvious limp, and was rubbing out an ache in his left shoulder as he walked. When Korra called his name, it was soft, but she knew that he'd heard her when he stilled. He said, over his shoulder, "Yes, Korra?"

She mumbled, "You seem to be pretty beat about that and all, but I thought that maybe instead of going to take a nap, we could stay out here? You could tell me stories about Avatar Aang and in return I could massage that hurt shoulder for you?"

He considered her offer, a pensive look crossing the features of his face as she could see over his shoulder.

"Alright."

Together they sat in the grass beside the sparring mat, facing the setting sun. At first, Korra sat on Tenzin's right side as he described the ways that his father had gone about imparting important lessons on the art of airbending-the most ridiculous tactics apparently yielded the deepest understanding-but the angle was awkward for Korra, seeing as Tenzin was quite a few inches taller than she was.

"Maybe you could lie down with your head on my lap so that I could better get to that shoulder." She suggested after a while. Tenzin was so into the story that he hardly thought about it before agreeing that that was a good idea and reclining onto Korra's crossed legs.

Korra was rewarded with a complete view of Tenzin's body, laid out before her eyes. Though he was in his forties, he had wonderful abs; abs that rippled in pleasant ways as he spoke. _He seems pretty into this story, _she thought. _I wonder if he'd notice if I started massaging his ab muscles too...NO, Korra. Learn some self control._ She contented herself with just looking.

Believe it or not, even more than she enjoyed looking at Tenzin's exposed torso, Korra loved the way that Tenzin looked as he regaled her with fond memories of his father. His face seemed to light up in a way that Korra never got to see otherwise, taking years off of his appearance.

At length, his narration segued into tales of Aang's fairness and courage in everyday life. "Often times, you remind me of him," he told Korra. She was shocked. She'd constantly been reminded of how much her temperament differed from that of the former Avatar. "How so?" she asked.

Tenzin's answer was solemn, sincere. "You are one of the most courageous people that I know."

His words touched Korra deeply, and she responded with far more love in her voice than she would have liked, saying, "Well, you are one of the most _amazing_ people I have ever known, Tenzin. Not just in this life, but in all of my lives, I'm sure. Just...Amazing."

Her master visibly tensed in her lap, wasting no time in sitting up and preparing to stand. As he stood and dressed again in his fine monk's robes he cleared his throat and said, "We really ought to get in to dinner. I'm sure Pema and the others are waiting for us at the table, and besides, we have moonlight meditation to look forward to."

Korra looked toward the ground as she stood to follow Tenzin. "Yes, master," she said, her heart full of sadness, before following him inside of the compound.


	4. Chapter 4

Korra carried a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach throughout dinner as she watched Tenzin interact with his family. The way that he listened patiently as Jinora and Ikki took turns telling him, in detail, how their days went (how he managed to sound interested, even when they spent a full five minutes explaining how they'd watched a mother turtle duck teach her children how to dive for submerged weeds in the island's pond, was beyond Korra). The way that he handled Meelo's repeated forays onto his father's bald head, calmly removing him and replacing him in his seat at the table each time. Worst of all, the way that he shared knowing and amused grins with Pema at all of the children's antics...it was just too much for Korra.

_It's just...Why does he have to be so damn perfect? _she asked hersef, sulking on her side of the table. It just wasn't fair that she had to live and train with a man with so many good qualities, and yet couldn't have him. _I mean, look at him with all of his patience, and strength,and understanding...he needs to just knock it off!_

It reached a point where she couldn't take watching them all any more, so she asked to be excused. When Pema asked if she'd like just a bit more rice, she declined. "...Not all that hungry anymore," she stammered, backing quickly out of the room. "The food was great though, Pema...really...I just gotta...bye." When she hit the doorway she turned to walk in the direction of her room. As she walked, she heard Pema's admonishment to Tenzin carry down the hall, "What did you do to that poor girl to make her lose her appetite? I've never seen Korra turn down food before."

"Korra LOVES food!" she heard Meelo pipe up, before she was out of earshot. _Korra loves your daddy more,_ she thought as she reached the doorway to her room. She shook her head, plopping down on the bed that was pushed up against the wall. _I have so many issues, _she observed, and fell backward against the mattress. _Sooo many..._

_A/N Sorry this is such a short chapter, but if I have it my way there'll be another chapter up tomorrow. *fingers crossed*_


End file.
